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Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

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Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 31, 2024 at 7:57 AM, finished with 11 posts and 6 votes.
  • [X] Smooth Criminal
    -[X] Cob tries to steal the coin out of the child's hand, using Hermean Potential to roll twice and take the higher result (+15 Sleight of Hand bonus opposed to the Perception of everyone present -5 against the girl)
    --[X] If Cob's actions are noticed by the Wizard, causing him to stop casting the spell, or the child notices the theft and calls the Wizard's attention to it, Pepper will drop the Deeper Darkness pebble out of the Handy Haversack and Kori will use Shadow Enchantment to cast Hold Person targeting the Wizard. If this happens, they will immediately alert the others that things have gone pear-shaped and that the princess should make her move.
    --[X] If Cob's actions are not noticed, they will wait until the child is teleported away, then immediately begin sneaking out of the house while Cob uses Shoffe to relay what was learned to the princess.
    [X] Smooth Criminal
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Arc 10: Post 10: Snares in the Dark New
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    • Snares in the Dark ​

    22th of Kuthona 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)

    "Ger the coin!" you whisper urgently.

    Cob does more than just take the coin; a flash of gold between glamored fingers, replacing one coin for another before the girl-child could even notice.

    Alas the wizard, even in the midst of his work, is not so easily deceived. Eyes widening with shock he almost seems to stop speaking before your friend had even started his dash.

    "Come here, pest!" Not missing a single heart beat he starts to chant again words heavy with spite.

    "Ware, bindings!" Pepper calls out, seeming to vomit out a wave of darkness as he does so, though one that the deep-dwelling eyes of the People can still pierce. Spiraling down from the ceiling like some strange cobweb you set your own spell in motion to bind the mage's limbs and still his weaving.

    Alas, his will proves the stronger, forcing limbs to work and tongue to twist through arcane syllables. Twistingly comes the tendril of rubbery false-flesh that bursts from the carpeted floor to the screams of the gathered family members to grasp and bind the thieving little 'sprite'. The coin goes bouncing on the floor.

    Cob Slight of Hand: 1d20+15 = 26
    Hermea Perception: 1d20+2+5 (Circumstance) = 9
    Lord Basri perception: 1d20+20 = 38
    ...
    Akorian Initiative: 1d20+6 = 26
    Lord Basri Initiative [Forwarned (Su)]: 1d20+1 = 9
    Pepper Initiative: 1d20+3 = 13

    Akorian Spellcraft (DC 19): 1d20+9 = 10 (Failure)
    Pepper Spellcraft (DC 19): 1d20+15 = 22 (Success)

    Lord Basri Will Save: 1d20+9 = 22 (Success)
    Tentacle Grab (VS CMD 20): 1d20+15 = 31 (Success)
    Miss Chance due to Deeper Darkness (DC 50): 64 (Success)
    Cob Takes 9 Damage -> Now at 66/75

    "If you value your existence in this world or another you will inform me of who sent you here, threshold fey," the mage proclaims with icy courtesy as he turns to look towards the source of the thrashing. "Which druid or greater sidhe saw fit to meddle within our own home in so brazen a manner?"

    Whatever power he had to have reacted so quickly doesn't allow him to pierce the darkness and see you or Pepper, but you don't think Cob will be able to pretend to be a faerie thing for long. Maybe long enough for Pepper to grab the coin though. On the other hand, if he dashes away with it you'll have to rescue Cob on your own.

    No doubt the first thing Lord Basri is going to do now is dispel the darkness so he can get a good look at who he captured.

    What do you do next?

    [] Pepper grabs the coin and tries to run (Stealth vs Lord Basri with a -3 penalty for distraction)

    [] Dispell the tentacle so Cob can get out, grabbing the coin as he goes

    [] Write in

    OOC: Well that didn't go so well, it's not even that you guys rolled badly, it's that he's on your level and got just a little more lucky. You still have options though, he thinks that Cob really is a sprite since that's all he got to see before the darkness fell and the flash wasn't enough to roll Sense Motive vs his Disguise.
     
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    • Crap, so much for a clean getaway.

    Things are in motion now, so there isn't much point in sticking purely to stealth.
     
    Cob can activate his shirt with Freedom of Movement as a standard action and then use the move to get away from the tentacles, I think?

    You don't need Concentration rolls to use these kind of items, as far as I remember?
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    Cob can activate his shirt with Freedom of Movement as a standard action and then use the move to get away from the tentacles, I think?

    You don't need Concentration rolls to use these kind of items, as far as I remember?
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    *checks*
    You are right, he should be able to use that to get out though given that he is in contact with the spell Lord Basri will get a spellcraft roll to realize that was a Freedom of Movement spell which is unusual for a liminal sprite to have.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    *checks*
    You are right, he should be able to use that to get out though given that he is in contact with the spell Lord Basri will get a spellcraft roll to realize that was a Freedom of Movement spell which is unusual for a liminal sprite to have.
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    Is the coin within the AoE of Black Tentacles?
     
    The goal shouldn't be to kill the Wizard now, but rather to sufficiently distract him for Cob to get away with the coin.

    Cob's Sneak Attack will hurt, but it would take an ungodly damage roll and a Crit to have a chance of being fatal. The main reason to make the attack is to interrupt his spellcasting by forcing a Concentration check if he tries to cast a spell this round.

    Kori's spell will have a CMB of +15, but the Wizard's CMD is going to be penalized -2 for being Blinded and he won't benefit from his DEX bonus, if any, so the Chain will have a very good chance of success. Dragging the Wizard into the Black Tentacles AoE is going to cause him issues, especially with a penalized CMD. He can Dismiss his Black Tentacles spell, but that requires a Standard Action. If he wants to use his actions for that, it will keep him from casting spells this round.

    Pepper dropping a Grease spell under him just adds insult to injury and makes life even more difficult for the Wizard to prevent him from interfering with our retreat.

    As soon as Cob has the coin and a spare Move Action at the beginning of the next round, he can Shadow Teleport out of here while Kori stays behind to continue drawing attention and acting as a distraction. Kori's Chain of Perdition will last for a while and he can continue using it while casting other spells.

    [X] "Fey" Shenanigans
    -[X] Cob activates his Unfettered Shirt as a Standard Action to gain Freedom of Movement and retrieves the coin as a Move Action. If the Wizard attempts to cast a spell this round, he uses one Mythic power to make a Surprise Strike Sneak Attack as a Swift Action against the Wizard, punching him so as to inflict nonlethal damage. He inflicts the Bewildered condition on the Wizard (-2 AC for 1 round).
    --[X] Surprise Strike Nonlethal Sneak Attack Punch: +15 [+1 Mythic, additional +1 Size and DEX bonuses from being     Tiny-sized], 1+7+4d6 [x2], Ignores DR
    -[X] Kori uses Inspired Spell to cast a Chain of Perdition spell targeting the Wizard, instructing it to attempt to Drag him into the Black Tentacles spell effect.
    --[X] Chain of Perdition Spell: +15 CMB vs Blinded Wizard's CMD (-2 AC penalty, No DEX bonus)
    -[X] Pepper casts a Grease spell targeting the Wizard's position.
    --[X] Grease Spell: DC 15 Reflex save.
     
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    I am back again! And I have a wild if devious idea...

    We can take the girl hostage. It would at least give the impression that we are not working for the Princess... we do not need to harm her, but it is good leverage.

    Also pretend to be drow agents. Very pissed drow agents.
     
    Tomcost said:
    I am back again! And I have a wild if devious idea...

    We can take the girl hostage. It would at least give the impression that we are not working for the Princess... we do not need to harm her, but it is good leverage.

    Also pretend to be drow agents. Very pissed drow agents.
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    Welcome back again. Everything all right on your end, dude? You're not just occasionally posting from Wi-Fi hotspots as you run from the law, right? :ninja:

    I'll pass on kidnapping, fake or otherwise. The Drow don't need further incrimination, and that makes everything much more complicated for us. Too many moving parts, too many points of failure in a world of high level magic.

    This Wizard is a Diviner, BTW, so we need to get out of here ASAP, without leaving any traces behind or allowing him to see or hear too much about us. Taking the kid means we would need to hide her from both mundane and magical detection, and we would probably need to mess with her memory afterwards, too.

    Not to mention that it would get us even more involved in this plot which appears to have a lot more stuff going on. Cassomir is just the tip of the iceberg. We've done a lot to help Eutropia, but there comes a point where we have to take a step back and let her and her supporters handle the rest, IMO.
     
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    Goldfish said:
    Welcome back again. Everything all right on your end, dude? You're not just occasionally posting from Wi-Fi hotspots as you run from the law, right? :ninja:
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    Fortunately it just the regular busy stuff. I will get to my quest, I promise.

    I just bought a house this year and I need to fix it. It takes time to get the best prices for materials and all that. And I am also planning a trip soon. These are the good kind of news that keep you busy and away from the screen.

    Goldfish said:
    I'll pass on kidnapping, fake or otherwise.
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    I just meant to grab the girl here and use her as a bargaining spot. We are the drow and we want an in this scheme. It buys time if we truly need to. Otherwise, it at least gives us the opportunity to shank Lord Basri even harder if things go south.
     
    Goldfish said:
    The goal shouldn't be to kill the Wizard now, but rather to sufficiently distract him for Cob to get away with the coin.

    Cob's Sneak Attack will hurt, but it would take an ungodly damage roll and a Crit to have a chance of being fatal. The main reason to make the attack is to interrupt his spellcasting by forcing a Concentration check if he tries to cast a spell this round.

    Kori's spell will have a CMB of +15, but the Wizard's CMD is going to be penalized -2 for being Blinded and he won't benefit from his DEX bonus, if any, so the Chain will have a very good chance of success. Dragging the Wizard into the Black Tentacles AoE is going to cause him issues, especially with a penalized CMD. He can Dismiss his Black Tentacles spell, but that requires a Standard Action. If he wants to use his actions for that, it will keep him from casting spells this round.

    Pepper dropping a Grease spell under him just adds insult to injury and makes life even more difficult for the Wizard to prevent him from interfering with our retreat.

    As soon as Cob has the coin and a spare Move Action at the beginning of the next round, he can Shadow Teleport out of here while Kori stays behind to continue drawing attention and acting as a distraction. Kori's Chain of Perdition will last for a while and he can continue using it while casting other spells.

    [X] "Fey" Shenanigans
    -[X] Cob activates his Unfettered Shirt as a Standard Action to gain Freedom of Movement and retrieves the coin as a Move Action. If the Wizard attempts to cast a spell this round, he uses one Mythic power to make a Surprise Strike Sneak Attack as a Swift Action against the Wizard. He inflicts the Bewildered condition on the Wizard (-2 AC for 1 round).
    --[X] Surprise Strike Sneak Attack: +18 [+1 Mythic, additional +1 Size and DEX bonuses from being     Tiny-sized], 1d4+7+4d6 [19-20/x2]
    -[X] Kori uses Inspired Spell to cast a Chain of Perdition spell targeting the Wizard, instructing it to attempt to Drag him into the Black Tentacles spell effect.
    --[X] Chain of Perdition Spell: +15 CMB vs Blinded Wizard's CMD (-2 AC penalty, No DEX bonus)
    -[X] Pepper casts a Grease spell targeting the Wizard's position.
    --[X] Grease Spell: DC 15 Reflex save.
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    Keep in mind that the Tentacles can also deal damage.

    Please don't overestimate the health of a Wizard, and let's not walk out of here with the blood of a Taldan noble on Cobs blade, if it can be avoided.
     
    Well, that could have been better, but at the same time our cover hasn't been totally blown yet so let's see if we can make a slippery getaway.

    [X] Goldfish
     
    Tomcost said:
    Fortunately it just the regular busy stuff. I will get to my quest, I promise.

    I just bought a house this year and I need to fix it. It takes time to get the best prices for materials and all that. And I am also planning a trip soon. These are the good kind of news that keep you busy and away from the screen.
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    Nice!

    I want to do something like that, too. Hard to make that kind of investment right now, though, especially when I haven't decided whether I'm going to stay in this state or move somewhere less politically discombobulated.
    Artemis1992 said:
    Keep in mind that the Tentacles can also deal damage.

    Please don't overestimate the health of a Wizard, and let's not walk out of here with the blood of a Taldan noble on Cobs blade, if it can be avoided.
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    They can do damage, but they don't do so much damage that they would kill him before he can dismiss the spell. 1d6+4 per round is easily survivable in the short term.

    The Sneak Attack in the plan is only triggered if the Wizard attempts to cast a spell this round, which isn't likely to happen unless he avoids the Chain and Grease spells, and decides to ignore the Black Tentacles if he gets dragged into them. The latter isn't likely, though, because he won't be able to cast much while Grappled. He got a very good roll for the CMB of the tentacles. There is no way he has a CMD of 31+.

    If we do accidentally kill him, that would be unfortunate, but it's better him than us. Death among nobles is rarely final, after all. They're about to have other stuff to worry about, with the princess on their doorstep.
     
    Rictus said:
    Assuming both that he didn't catastrophically dump Constitution and Cob doesn't crit him.
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    Both are possible, but I think it's unlikely. Even if he dumped CON, he's a wealthy noble and a Wizard of decent power. If he doesn't have a +CON item, I would be shocked.

    The only way he should have a chance to cast a spell, which is what would prompt Cob to Sneak Attack him, is if he avoids Kori's Chain of Perdition and Pepper's Grease spell. Otherwise, he's going to get dragged into the tentacles and Grappled unless he spends his Standard Action to dismiss the spell.

    If he dies, I'm thinking we have Cob take his head then dump his entire load of Alchemist's Fire on the body after we loot it. That will make it take longer to Resurrect him, if they are in a position to do it, and will let us question him via Speak with Dead.
     
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